Sportin Latvia includes basketball, football, ice hockey, athletics (track), rugby, tennis, cycling, and others. Ice hockey is the most popular of the Latvian sports and is closely followed by basketball. Some of Latvia's most notable athletes include hockey player Sandis Ozoliņš, football player Māris Verpakovskis, Olympic javelin thrower Jānis Lūsis, two-time Olympic BMX champion Maris Strombergs, and basketball player Kristaps Porziņģis. The national sport of Latvia is ice hockey.
Valdis Valters is a retired Latvian professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position for the senior USSR national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest players to have played the game in Europe in the 1980s. Considering his lengthy work and deep connection to the sport, Valters has been one of the most influential people in Latvian basketball history. He became a FIBA Hall of Fame player in 2017.
Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky was a Russian professional basketball player and coach. The Father of Soviet and Russian basketball, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Latvia men's national basketball team represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship 15 times, with their ultimate success occurring during the inter-war period, when they became the first team to win the tournament in 1935. Four years later, they had another impressive run to come away with the silver in 1939. Although after 1939, Latvia were forced to suspend their national team operations, due to the Occupation of the Baltic states during World War II. Latvia regained independence in 1991, with their national team taking part in international competition once again a year later.
Sergei Alexandrovich Belov was a Russian professional basketball player, most noted for playing for CSKA Moscow and the senior Soviet Union national basketball team. He is considered to be one of the best European basketball players of all time, and was given the honour of lighting the Olympic Cauldron with the Olympic flame during the 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, in Moscow.
Jon Robert "J.R." Holden is an American-Russian former professional basketball player, currently serving as an National Basketball Association (NBA) Director of Player Personnel for the Brooklyn Nets. Holden was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At 1.85 m (6'1") tall, he could play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions, but he primarily played at point guard.
Sergei Valerianovich Bazarevich is a Russian former professional basketball player and coach. At 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and 175 lb (79 kg), he played at the point guard and shooting guard positions.
Otar Korkia was a Georgian professional basketball player and coach. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players, in 1991. He was also named the Best Georgian Basketball Player of the 20th Century, and the Best Georgian Sportsman of the 20th Century. He was born in Kutaisi.
Stepas Butautas was a Soviet and Lithuanian professional basketball player and coach. He trained at the VSS Žalgiris, in Kaunas. He played with the Soviet Union men's national basketball team at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, where he won a silver medal. During the tournament, he played in all eight games.
Tiit Sokk is a retired Estonian professional basketball player and current coach. Often cited as one of the very best European point guards of his generation, he is widely recognized as the greatest Estonian basketball player in history. Elected to the Hall of fame of Estonian basketball in 2010.
Viktor Alekseyevich Zubkov was a Soviet professional basketball player and coach. At a height of 2.04 m, he played at the center position. He is considered to be one of the most distinguished players of Soviet and European basketball in the 1950s and 1960s.
Raimonds Miglinieks is a retired Latvian professional basketball player and basketball coach. Standing at a height of 1.90 m tall, he was a point guard with excellent court vision.
Jānis Krūmiņš was a Soviet-Latvian professional basketball player. Helped by his height, he was the first giant center that dominated under European baskets, for years. As a player of the senior Soviet Union national basketball team, Krūmiņš won 3 gold medals at the 1959, 1961, and 1963 EuroBaskets, as well as 3 silver medals at the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Summer Olympic Games.
Dragan Kićanović is a Serbian and Yugoslav retired professional basketball player.
Elīna Dikaioulaku is a Latvian former basketball player.
Stanislav Georgiyevich Yeryomin, last name also spelled Eremin and Yeremin, is a retired Russian professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, at a height of 1.81 m tall, he played at the point guard position. He is also a retired Russian Army Colonel.
Zoran "Moka" Slavnić is a Serbian retired professional basketball player and coach. He played with Crvena zvezda and with Partizan. One of the best European point guards of all time, he was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991 and became a FIBA Hall of Fame player in 2013.
Anatoly Dmitriyevich Myshkin is a retired Soviet and Russian professional basketball player and coach. At 6 feet 9 1⁄2 inches tall, and a weight of 210 lbs. (95 kg), he played as a combo forward. Myshkin was able to break up all of the defensive schemes in European basketball, due to his unique skill set. He was mobile and aggressive, and he possessed the speed and versatility to beat any defender.
Valeri Tikhonenko is a retired Soviet and Russian professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, he played at the small forward and power forward positions, with power forward being his main position. He represented both the Soviet Union and Russia in national team competitions. With the Soviet Union, he won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Raimonds Feldmanis is a Latvian former professional basketball player and professional basketball coach who helped Latvian 3x3 national team win gold medals in 2020 Summer Olympics.
